Automated creation of printed works having customized and/or personalized content

A system for generating a printed work, the system comprising:

• means for electronically providing in at least one computing system, a user with access to information about a collection of content that is available for incorporation into printed works containing a customized aggregation of content;
• means for receiving, in the at least one computing system, content selection instructions from the user for selecting at least two distinct items of content from the collection of content;
• means for selecting and retrieving, in the at least one computing system, the at least two distinct items of content from the collection of content based on the content selection instructions;
• means for aggregating, in the at least one computing system, the at least two retrieved items of content into an electronic aggregation of information;
• means for transforming, in the at least one computing system, the at least two items of content within the electronic aggregation of information based on user formatting instructions;
• and
• means for generating, in the at least one computing system, a printed work containing content based on the electronic aggregation of information, wherein the content includes the at least two transformed items of content;
• wherein the means for selecting and retrieving, in the at least one computing system, the at least two distinct items of content from the collection of content based on the content selection instructions employ RSS.

A method for providing publications of interest to users, comprising:

• obtaining permission from a first user to offer a custom or personalized printable work for sale, wherein the customized or personalized printable work is generated by a method comprising:
• providing the first user with access to information about a collection of content that is available for incorporation into customized or personalized printable works;
• receiving content selection instructions from the first user for selecting items of content from the collection of content;
• selecting and retrieving the items of content from the collection of content based on the content selection instructions from the first user;
• aggregating the retrieved items of content into an electronic document;
• transforming the items of content within the electronic document based on formatting instructions from the first user;
• and
• configuring the customized or personalized printable work for the first user, wherein the customized or personalized printable work contains content based on the electronic document;
• displaying information indicating that the customized or personalized printable work is for sale;
• receiving, from a second user, an offer to purchase the customized or personalized printable work;
• generating a copy of the customized or personalized printable work for delivery to the second user;
• and
• providing a royalty or payment to the first user for the purchase of the customized or personalized printable work by the second user.

A method for providing printed blog entries of interest to users, comprising:

• electronically receiving one or more blog journal entries from a first user;
• storing each of the electronically received blog journal entries into a collection of blog journal entries associated with the first user or associated with a topic relating to the one or more blog journal entries;
• providing a second user with access to the one or more blog journal entries, wherein the access includes print on demand services;
• receiving instructions from the second user for generating a printed work from the one or more blog journal entries;
• in response to the received instructions,
• selecting and retrieving the stored blog journal entries from the collection of blog journal entries, and
• generating a printed work containing text, images, or both text and images associated with the retrieved blog journal entries;
• providing advertising opportunities associated with the one or more blog journal entries;
• including advertisements in the printed work;
• and
• charging a fee to an advertiser for including the advertisements in the printed work.

A method for providing printed blog entries of interest to users, comprising:

• electronically receiving one or more blog journal entries from a first user;
• storing each of the electronically received blog journal entries into a collection of blog journal entries associated with the first user or associated with a topic relating to the one or more blog journal entries;
• providing a second user with access to the one or more blog journal entries, wherein the access includes print on demand services;
• receiving instructions from the second user for generating a printed work from the one or more blog journal entries;
• in response to the received instructions,
• selecting and retrieving the stored blog journal entries from the collection of blog journal entries, and
• generating a printed work containing text, images, or both text and images associated with the retrieved blog journal entries;
• providing advertising opportunities associated with the one or more blog journal entries;
• including advertisements in the printed work, wherein including the advertisements is based on an election by the second user to include the advertisements;
• charging a fee to an advertiser for including the advertisements in the printed work;
• and
• offsetting a fee charged to the second user based on including the advertisements in the printed work.

A method for providing printed blog entries of interest to users, comprising:

• electronically receiving one or more blog journal entries from a first user;
• storing each of the electronically received blog journal entries into a collection of blog journal entries associated with the first user or associated with a topic relating to the one or more blog journal entries;
• providing a second user with access to the one or more blog journal entries, wherein the access includes print on demand services;
• receiving instructions from the second user for generating a printed work from the one or more blog journal entries;
• in response to the received instructions,
• selecting and retrieving the stored blog journal entries from the collection of blog journal entries, and
• generating a printed work containing text, images, or both text and images associated with the retrieved blog journal entries;
• providing advertising opportunities associated with the one or more blog journal entries;
• including advertisements in the printed work;
• charging a fee to an advertiser for including the advertisements in the printed work;
• and
• after receiving payment of the fee, providing at least a portion of the received fee to the first user.

A method for providing printed blog entries of interest to users, comprising:

• electronically receiving one or more blog journal entries from a first user;
• storing each of the electronically received blog journal entries into a collection of blog journal entries associated with the first user or associated with a topic relating to the one or more blog journal entries;
• providing a second user with access to the one or more blog journal entries, wherein the access includes print on demand services;
• receiving instructions from the second user for generating a printed work from the one or more blog journal entries;
• in response to the received instructions,
• selecting and retrieving the stored blog journal entries from the collection of blog journal entries, and
• generating a printed work containing text, images, or both text and images associated with the retrieved blog journal entries;
• prior to selecting and retrieving the stored blog journal entries from the collection of blog journal entries, providing an indication to the first user that his or her blog journal entry has been selected for inclusion in a printed work;
• and
• requesting permission from the first user for including the blog journal entry in the printed work, in exchange for a fee.